IIT Kanpur has newly created a Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering with an aim of becoming a vital contributor to nation’s growing clean and renewable energy sector by generating high-quality scientific and technological knowhow, and human resources.
The Board of Governors of IIT Kanpur accorded its approval to the proposed department on December 7, 2020, as informed by Prof Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur. This also makes IIT Kanpur the first IIT to have a dedicated department for sustainable energy engineering.
The Department’s research will be classified under four major verticals — energy capture and generation; energy storage and distribution; alternative fuels; and, energy, environment and policy.
Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Kanpur, said, Sstarting an academic department in this area is a vital initiative serving the educational and technology development related needs of the country.” He commended the institute on achieving this milestone despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Prof Karandikar noted, “This initiative comes at an opportune time when the Indian government has committed to source at least 40 per cent of its energy requirement from clean and renewable energy sources by 2030, as pledged in the Paris Agreement.”
“The new department aims to contribute to India’s bid to become a global leader in the widespread adoption of sustainable energy technologies impacting a variety of sectors such as electricity and transportation,” notes Prof Karandikar, Director, IIT-Kanpur.
In consonance with above mentioned national aspirations, the new department envisions to develop high quality academic programmes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Prof Karandikar said that the new department’s academic programmes shall aim to provide multiple skill-sets to its students, with relevant courses from core engineering disciplines blended with sciences and humanities. The curriculum will train the students to become well-rounded energy engineers who will become assets to the industry as well as academia and research organizations.
Furthermore, it will engage in cutting-edge research in frontier and futuristic areas related to energy sustainability with clear focus on new, renewable and alternate energy technologies.